Bay of Fundy Herring Weir IV

Sandra Herber
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Bay of Fundy Herring Weir IV
Bay of Fundy Herring Weir IV

This is the Intruder weir in Pettes Cove (you could see it on the left in my previous image). The image was taken as I balanced precariously on the cliffs around Swallowtail lighthouse. The lighthouse was closed for renovations, as was the area around it, but I was lucky to get special permission to photograph there one evening. I'm not really afraid of heights, but balancing my tripod on the rocky cliffs, shooting almost straight down and then trying to put on and take off the ND filters, was a little scary. Luckily, I made it back unscathed!

When I was doing research on fishing weirs, they were often described as "heart-shaped". When seeing them from their level, that's hard to see, but you can see it here.

Pettes Cove, Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

Weir fishing is a very old method of fishing - the stakes of an ancient fishing weir have been found near to the Bay of Fundy, in Maine, dating back over 5,000 years - and it has been practiced around the world in almost all seaside and riverine cultures going back millennia. Despite challenges, weir fishing continues to be practiced around the largest Bay of Fundy Islands (Grand Manan, Campobello and Deer Island), defying predictions over 40 years ago that it was about to die out. The herring may not come in the same numbers as they used to, but older weirs continue to be maintained and a few new weirs are being built in the hopes of big herring catches. The herring weirs are made from 40-70 foot long stakes pounded into the ocean floor, top poles (thinner, lighter birch or aspen poles around 12- 18 feet tall) and are hung with twine nets. When herring come in to the coastal areas in their huge shoals they are directed, by a fence attached to the shore, into the weir where they are trapped. Although all weirs follow the same principle, each is unique, its shape dictated by the currents and counter-currents, the type of sea bottom (sand or rock) and whether or not it has an additional pen for holding herring.

If you would like to read about my trip through the largest Bay of Fundy islands of Grand Manan, Deer Island and Compobello Island, take a look at the blog post about my Bay of Fundy Islands trip. There is a an album for the fishing weir series, but you can also look at image from my trips to the Canadian Maritimes going back to 2014.


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Taken on: August 1, 2023
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Canada Canada Everybody's photos tagged with Fishing Weir Fishing Weir Everybody's photos tagged with Grand Manan Grand Manan more » Everybody's photos tagged with Herring Weir Herring Weir Everybody's photos tagged with New Brunswick New Brunswick Everybody's photos tagged with Pettes Cove Pettes Cove Everybody's photos tagged with The Intruder Weir The Intruder Weir « less
Sets appears in:   • Bay of Fundy Herring Weirs    • Maritimes   
Camera: Nikon Z 7, f/8.0, 57 sec, 26mm, ISO 64 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Nikon Z 7
Lens: NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Time: 57
Focal Length: 26mm
ISO: 64
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Scene Capture Type: Portrait
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.5 (Windows)
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